01 February 2013

Science Online 2013, day 2: In which sartorial choices are explained

I was wearing one of my kilts at Science Online yesterday. This is still unusual enough for a guy to wear that you get questions about it. Questions like, "Are you Scottish?" (No.)

I told a few people the story of why I got myself a kilt. I decided that I was going to get one as a present to myself for getting tenure. The first time I wore it was my first full day as a tenured associate professor. I’d told one of my students that this was my plan a week or two in advance. She showed up in my office on the first of the month saying, “Let’s see it.’ I stood up, and she said, ‘... I didn’t think you’d actually do it.’

Getting tenure is supposed to afford you a certain amount of protection to make unpopular or unusual decisions. I got myself a kilt to remind myself to be fearless.